Squiz Today / 23 September 2021

Squiz Today – Thursday, 23 September

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Squiz Today Podcast

Suits most morning toast and tea routines. 

Today’s listen time: 9 minutes

SYD
9 / 25
MEL
9 / 21
BNE
10 / 25
ADL
8 / 20
PER
10 / 25
HBA
10 / 17
DRW
20 / 34
CBR
3 / 20

Squiz Sayings

“I couldn’t have had a more brilliant TV partner.”

Said Mario Cantone, who played Sex and the City’s prickly event planner Anthony Marantino – enemy-turned-husband of Stanford Blatch aka Willie Garson, who has died of an undisclosed disease at 57yo. Our favourite quote of his: “Oh my god, she’s fashion roadkill!

Can someone round up Victoria’s black cat please?

THE SQUIZ
Oh c’mon, universe… After COVID lockdowns, violent protests, and taking away the AFL grand final for 2 years – enough’s enough. If you’re in Australia’s southeast, be on the lookout for all things old testament after an earthquake was detected near Mansfield, Victoria at 9:15am yesterday. It was the largest recorded earthquake in the state’s history and one of the largest in eastern Australia since European settlement.

WHAT HAPPENED?
The first earthquake was magnitude 5.9, and it was felt 190 kilometres away in Melbourne and regional Victoria, as well as in Sydney, regional NSW, Canberra, Adelaide, and northern Tassie. Experts say it was fortunate the epicentre was in a less populated regional area. According to the State Emergency Service, the initial quake was followed by 6 aftershocks with magnitudes in the 4s, 3s and 2s. Authorities said there is still the chance of significant aftershocks, but they are unlikely to exceed the original magnitude-5.9 quake. Rescue services logged 100 requests for assistance, most relating to structural damage to buildings in metro Melbourne. But what happened in Melbourne’s inner city, on camera at the ABC, and in some homes – you can see the effects were varied…

UMM AUSTRALIA DOESN’T HAVE EARTHQUAKES…
Umm yes we do. Like, 100 every year… As for quakes of a significant magnitude and in areas where people live, not often. According to Geoscience Australia, magnitude-5 earthquakes can occur every one-to-2 years, and magnitude 6 earthquakes every 10 years. Australia’s largest recorded earthquake was magnitude 6.6 in 1988 at Tennant Creek in the Top End. The deadliest was the devastating 1989 Newcastle earthquake – a magnitude-5.6 quake that led to the deaths of 13 people. The good news is we’re not on a fault line like our neighbours Indonesia and Kiwiland, and that’s why we rarely see the really big ones. As the ABC explains, we’re in the middle of pavlova…s, we’re in the middle of pavlova

Australian News Environment & Science

Squiz the Rest

Hundreds gather again to protest in Melbourne

If an earthquake wasn’t shaking up Melbourne enough yesterday, about 400 protesters were back on the streets for day 3. More than 200 were arrested, and 2 police officers were injured during another tense day in the CBD. Police say demonstrators threw flares, golf balls, tap handles and batteries at police officers, and there were reports of authorities using rubber bullets again to disperse those who gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance – something the RSL’s not happy about. As for who was involved, Deputy Police Commissioner Ross Guenther said that there “weren’t as many tradies from what we could see, and we took that as a real positive.” Reports say many were holding anti-lockdown signs and shouting anti-vaxx messages. Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday slammed the unrest as “appalling”. Police are prepared for more action today. 

Australian News

Getting a grip on some big relationship moves

UK PM Boris Johnson has told France to “donnez-moi un break” (give me a break) and “prenez un grip” (get a grip) on its anger of being left out of the AUKUS security pact inked last week. The UK, US and Oz were “not trying to shoulder anybody out,” he told reporters in Washington DC. US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron have had a call, and after a sorta-kinda admission that America should have been more consultative, France’s ambassador will return to the US. But UK-France relations remain testy… Not so PM Scott Morrison’s in-person talks with Biden – reports this morning say discussions have turned to Oz hosting US/UK nuclear-powered subs from the start of the 2030s (paywall). That would bring “training opportunities for Australians as we seek to build our capability,” Morrison said. At home, Labor continues to criticise Morrison for the fallout with France.

Australian News

Gabby Petito’s death ruled a murder

The death of 22yo American social media influencer Gabby Petito is now being investigated as a homicide, the FBI said yesterday. After her body was found in a National Park in Wyoming on Sunday, yesterday’s autopsy confirmed her identity and manner of death. An exact cause is yet to be determined. At the end of last month, Petito went missing while on a cross-country van trip with her fiance Brian Laundrie. But all was not what it seemed – Petito’s family said there was “tension” between her and Laundrie, and the recording of a 911 call about a “domestic dispute” they had in mid-August has been released. Laundrie, who returned to Florida in the van alone 3 weeks ago, is now the key suspect in Petito’s murder. Finding him is another thing

World News

Nothing says 2021 like a ham shortage this Christmas…

Soz but many Aussie Chrissy tables could look very different this year thanks to the gift that keeps on giving (yes, COVID…). Ham is among several foods expected to be in short supply leading into the most wonderful time of the year with ongoing border restrictions driving workforce shortages across the agricultural sector. Lockdowns in NSW and Victoria are affecting supply chains across the country, and foods including ham, lamb and some fruit and veg are forecast to be in low supply and more expensive come December. That’s why retailers and the red meat industry are calling on restrictions on meatworks to be lifted ahead of the Christmas rush. The problem is cold workplaces like abattoirs have been breeding grounds for cases here and around the world. “We want to see every Aussie have Aussie pork this Christmas,” Victorian pork producer Tim Kingma said. We want that too, Tim, except for those with religious or dietary restrictions. And people who don’t like it – they shouldn’t have to eat it either. 

Australian News

Get down to the dairy

Now for the good news: eating more dairy fat could lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a major study has found. Researchers from the George Institute for Global Health studied the effects of dairy intake in 4,150 60yos from Sweden over more than 16 years. They found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was lowest in individuals who consumed high levels of dairy fatty acids and that a higher intake of dairy fat wasn’t associated with an increased risk of death. It’s “less important to select the low-fat option” when buying dairy foods, lead author Dr Kathy Trieu said. However, she warned against dairy products containing added sugar (like some extra delicious yoghurts) or sodium. Meet you in the cheese aisle…

Health

Apropos of Nothing

Netflix is said to be in talks with The Roald Dahl Story Company to purchase the rights to the author’s entire catalogue. Said to be worth more than US$100 million, it would mark the streaming giant’s biggest-ever acquisition, and it would give Disney+ a run for its money, analysts say.

The purpose of today was not to host a pity party for Melbourne… But here’s a thing: as a token of appreciation for Victorians’ support during 6 lockdowns, the NRL’s  Melbourne Storm is offering up 23,000 free memberships next year.

Drone delivery service Wing was forced to temporarily halt its operations in Canberra yesterday after a raven attacked a drone en route with a coffee order. Maybe we really are in the end times…

Quirky News

Squiz the Day

Saudi Arabia’s National Day, commemorating the renaming of the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by royal decree of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud (1932)

International Day of Sign Languages

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

Birthdays for Bruce Springsteen (1949) and Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander (1959),

Anniversary of:
• the founding of Nintendo Koppai (later Nintendo Company) by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda (1889)
• the birthdays of Ray Charles (1930)
• the death of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1939)
• the premiere of The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and TV comedy Modern Family (2009)

Squiz the Day

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